[Leica] Some time with an M8

[kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour)]

On Jan 29, 2007, at 7:52 AM, Wade Heninger wrote:

> So, post battery-troubles, I finally got to spend some quality time  
> with my
> M8.  We were heading to Victoria for a bit of work and some family  
> time, so
> I was excited to put the camera thru my normal paces...
>
> I popped in a 4 gig Transcend card, attached my TA soft release,  
> charged all
> three batteries and mounted my trusty Summicron 50 (sans IR filter)  
> and
> began shooting - on the ferry, on various walks, in the hotel, and  
> at the
> various places we visited.
>
> So after about 800 exposures, I can state I'm quite happy with the  
> camera.
> It works mostly like I had my M6 in hand, which is more than I can  
> say for
> any other digital I've ever had.  I *love* having my summicron back  
> pointing
> at the world and I love having an M in hand again.  I pretty much  
> ignored
> everything except the shutter aperture and the ISO - what bliss.   
> It just
> feels right in my hand and I'm swooning - its so good to be back  
> shooting an
> M after those awful DSLR monsters.  Good riddance (well for 90% of my
> shooting anyhow).
>
> Random observations in a quaint "stream of consciousness" fashion:
>
> I do find the shutter a bit different than the M6 - I like the old  
> shutter
> sound better, but its nothing to get up tight about.  I completely  
> forgot
> about the fact that it is a bit thicker after 2 minutes.  I love  
> the Set
> menu for shooting parameters (less clutter for the good stuff).   
> The buffer
> is big and while you can catch up to it, its hard, and you can wait  
> a few
> seconds and continue tacking onto the queue. DNG rocks - makes it much
> easier to manage the Raw file (and its archival)! I've set it to  
> show the
> preview for a few seconds in B/W too (that may be a firmware bug,  
> but I hope
> they never fix it).  No problems with the on/off switch getting moved
> back/forth.  My frame selector is a bit sticky for some reason, but  
> I'm
> going to just ignore it for awhile.  The 50 Summicron is a bit too  
> tight, so
> I just ordered a used 35mm Summicron. I'm going to consider Tom's  
> grip when
> it comes out as well. The soft release is made for this camera - I  
> got some
> sharp shots at 1/8. I can put at least 300 exposures on the card  
> before its
> time to change the battery (wish just this one part could be like the
> Nikons) but its acceptable.
>
> But here is the best part: when I loaded them into Lightroom and  
> converted
> them to b/w (which is mostly what I plan to do) they just popped - it
> reminded me again why I use Leica lenses.  Sharp, contrasty, and they
> require so little mucking with (unlike the Nikon stuff I've been  
> messing
> with while waiting for the M8).  The ISO at 160/320 is fine  
> grained.  640
> and 1250 is a bit grainier and totally acceptable.  2500 is hit/ 
> miss, but I
> didn't usually shoot at that with film, so I'm happy.  Will print a  
> few when
> I get back, but I have no reason to doubt they'll look as good on  
> paper as
> on screen.  I've not looked at the color at all - probably won't -  
> and as
> soon as I can get a "always preview in B/W" option in Lightroom, I'll
> probably never see it so the IR and WB issues just are not an issue  
> for me.
>
> Here are a few pictures:
>
> http://www.heninger.org/gallery/victoria/

you have some absolutely wonderful images here Wade... I will write  
more later on some particular images,  but wow, overall the results  
are quite thrilling...


and I fully agree with your experience...


have fun...Steve





>
> Enjoy...
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> w a d e  h e n i n g e r
> u s e r  e x p e r i e n c e
> a d o b e  s y s t e m s ,  i n c
>
>
>
>
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